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"Snowdonia" is the tale of my return to the spot where my enthusiasm for mountain hiking was born, this time bringing my daughter who has a rather different view toward mountain hikes. This exploration of North Wales with its mountains, lakes, and fascinating coastline results in a feature offering a recreational view on national park Snowdonia, rather than nature oriented.
In the heart of the Colorado plateau lies the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area. An unknown, inaccessible and breathtakingly beautiful area, farther from human civilization than any other park in North America. Here you'll find the Paria Canyon, Buckskin Gulch (the worlds longest slot canyon) and Coyote Buttes, a large reserve where only twelve people a day may enter. This is the home of the "Wave", the most well-kept trekking secret of the USA.
This feature is a lot more adventurous and extreme than the aforementioned ones. Not all readers would be able to go on this trip themselves, but that is not necessarily a disadvantage as readers likewise enjoy poring over articles of polar expeditions or of rare animals.
Text and image match up seamlessly.
Am I a journalist who takes pictures? Or a pen-wielding photographer? Editors can't agree on this one nor did the year 2004 
deliver a decisive outcome. Among various combined word and image assignments, there was also one for which I only needed my beloved Nikon F4 and one consisting exclusively of text editing.
Whatever the case may be, where the twain meet, image and text are guaranteed to be a seamless match
All travel features are up to date.
The website contains all up-to-date features. They often have already been published, but rarely in the same form as the one presented on the website. All texts offered on site have been checked for current facts and brought up to speed where necessary. In the process they became more snappy than the original. If you choose to use an article, it is once again checked for new developments before sending. As far as the slides are concerned, removal of dated material is an annually recurring ritual. If a feature is found on the website, it means it is up to date.
Summary on the site, complete text upon request.
The complete texts are not accessible on the site. They are, after all, not intended for anyone browsing the web, as the purpose is to sell them. What you find on the site is a set of summaries and excerpts. Obviously, as editor, you can access to the whole article. Just say the word and I will send you a link to the complete story.
The number of features on the site is growing steadily.
Faster than I produce new features in fact, because I am uploading more than I am currently making. But despite the growth the site is a work in progress and not all travel features can be found there yet. To gain an impression of ALL feature stories, click on Photos by Region, to be found in the header of every webpage. Although the subjects indexed there refer to separate stock images, not to features, all themes marked as complete (in bold) are usually accompanied by a text. The difference between uploaded and yet to be uploaded features is that the latter may still require updating.
The website is going to offer various keys to my photography collection. First of all you can search by country, region or city, as elaborated below. Other ways (e.g. per subject) are to be introduced in the near future.
Per country, region or city.
The Photos by Region link in the header of every website page brings you to the stock list that gives the contents of the entire slide archive: far more than the uploaded images The archive results from more than twenty years of work - although not up to date material has been thrown out - and is grouped by country, region and city. Also indexed are subjects such as islands, outdoor themes and UNESCO world heritage sites. And, of course, nature parks, since I have produced a series of features on 26 national nature parks in Europe. I wrote a 70 page special about all the national and regional parks of France as well.
Has he gone mad?
The website is not intended as a jewel to be gazed at but a tool to be used. Let me invite you to stroll about the website to experience the ease of use. To make the invitation even more attractive, I am giving away one photograph to each of my clients. The size of the picture does not matter - it can be a cover shot - as long as it was found on the site. This offer is valid during spring. In this period lots of new material will be added to the site, so the frequent visitor in the coming months is sure to find a good pic(k).
The time has come: my website is now officially online in English and Dutch. The Italian and French versions will follow in August and October respectively, and the German in 2006. It will make it easy for you to find the right travel feature for your magazine, or to track down the right image to go with a specific article. The url www.paulsmit.biz showed content previously also, but that was primarily for my own use and testing purposes. As of today the site is for you, the editor.
Features, photographs and information can be accessed using various methods. You can find out how in the section tips for website use.
